No description available.

This study examines the attitudes and practices of six upper high school social studies teachers in Sweden regarding their use of films. To achieve this, the study has used qualitative interviews as the primary method to collect data. The study exploring the selection of films and the reasons why teachers choose to incorporate films into their teaching. The study also discusses how teachers use films as an educational tool to promote both knowledge acquisition and the school's values and democracy work. Additionally, the study highlights the teacher’s thoughts on what the strengths and weakness with film as an educational medium is, and how this impacts their teaching in civics. To interpret the findings, the study is based on theoretical frameworks of multimodal learning, visual intelligence, and Vygotsky's sociocultural perspective. The conclusions of the study indicate that teachers use a wide range of different types of films, usually in shorter formats. Films are primarily used as a complement in teaching to bring to life and exemplify aspects that teachers find difficult to articulate on their own. The teachers in the study describe that working with films should be done as something active, discussions are something that is mentioned as something that achieve the best results. Furthermore, challenges are highlighted, such as students having difficulty maintaining focus for extended periods, which explains the teachers preference for shorter films.

The aim of this essay is to study to what extent and in what way teaching about human rights in upper secondary school is linked to the school's democratic education mission, how the relevant governing documents are implemented based on social studies teachers' different interpretations and how these phenomena can be understood from the teacher's role as a street-level bureaucrat.The methodological framework of this essay is based on qualitative, semi structured interviews with four social studies teachers in upper secondary school. The results have subsequently been analyzed through Michael Lipsky’s theory of street-level bureaucracy as well as Evert Vedung’s and Lennart Lundquist’s theory of implementation issues. Based on the results of the study, it can be concluded that the democratic education mission and human rights education in schools depend heavily onteachers' individual interpretations of the curriculum as street-level bureaucrats. These interpretations lead to diverse teaching practices and outcomes which has a significant impact on students' understanding of human rights and their development towards democratic citizens.

The main aim of this study was to research what students’ perceptions of the ideal citizen are. Thus the aim was also to explore which skills or knowledge studets feel they require, with special regards to practical learning exercises, in order to become their ideal citizen. In order to fulfill the main aim, the study also aspired to explore upper-secondary students’ experiences of practical learning exercises within their previous civics education, their opinions on practical learning exercises and what types of practical learning exercises they wish their civics education would include. Semi-structured interviews were used as the data collection method for this study. The data analysis method used was qualitative content analysis. The study found that the experiences of practical learning methods were highly varied amongst the participants. School elections and work or economics related exercises were most common. Furthermore, the study found that 80% of participants were positive to practical learning activities within the subject of civics, the other 20% were neutral. All participants could name a practical learning exercise they wished their civics education would include. The most common desires were exercises related to human interaction in some form. The study found the most commonly identified citizen idealtype to be the personally responsible, the democratically informed and the justice-oriented citizen. Finally, the type of knowledge that was most forthcoming was social reconstructionism and social efficiency. The findings of this study were in accordance with the previous research in the field. The findings of this study are relevant as they provide a guideline for future teaching within the civics subject in Sweden where students’ wishes are accounted for in alignment with the Swedish democracy mission.

I denna uppsats undersöker vi gymnasieelevers attityder till samhällskunskapsämnet och dess delområden, med fokus på hur variablerna gymnasieprogram, skolors antagningspoäng och kulturellt kapital samvarierar med elevers attityder. Syftet är att identifiera skillnader i attityder till samhällskunskapsämnet och dess delområden utifrån dessa variabler. I studien används en mixad metod, bestående av en kvantitativ enkät och kvalitativ analys. Genom enkäten samlade vi in data från elever på olika gymnasieskolor, som varierar i antagningspoäng, för att mäta deras attityder till samhällskunskapsämnet och dess delområden. Resultaten visar att elever på naturvetenskapsprogrammet generellt sett är mer intresserade av samhällskunskap och motiverade att prestera för att nå höga betyg jämfört med elever från andra program. Vidare framkommer att elever vid skolor med höga antagningspoäng har en mer positiv inställning till ämnet och är mer motiverade att nå höga betyg. De tenderar även att se ämnet som viktigt, relevant och i sin helhet, medan elever på skolor med lägre antagningspoäng oftare ser ämnet som ointressant och fokuserar på delområden istället för helheten. Elever med högt kulturellt kapital har mer positiv känslomässig inställning till ämnet och är också mer motiverade att nå höga betyg. Studien konkluderar att gymnasieelevers attityder gentemot samhällskunskapsämnet och dess olika delområden skiljer sig åt mellan variablerna gymnasieprogram, skolors antagningspoäng och kulturellt kapital. Som samhällskunskapslärare bör man ha detta i åtanke inför och under sin samhällskunskapsundervisning.

I en tid av ökad polarisering och desinformation är det avgörande att samhällskunskapsundervisningen ger elever möjlighet att diskutera kontroversiella frågor. Denna studie utforskar gymnasieelevers deltagande i diskussioner om kontroversiella frågor. Genom kvalitativa intervjuer med 18 elever från både studieförberedande och yrkesförberedande program undersöker vi hur faktorer i klassrummet påverkar elevers deltagande samt identifierar strategier lärare kan använda för att övervinna hinder som kan uppstå under dessa diskussioner. Resultaten visar att elever som ser en direkt koppling mellan diskussionerna, dvs. personlig relevans tenderar att vara mer engagerade. Samtidigt framkom att rädslan för att uttrycka ”fel” åsikt och den sociala dynamiken i klassrummet ofta hindrar deltagande i diskussioner. Eleverna upplever att lärarens roll är central för att skapa en inkluderande miljö som uppmuntrar till öppen diskussion. Strategier som eleverna föreslår innefattar att diskutera åsikter fritt utan tilldelade positioner, samt att lärare ska ifrågasätta elevers åsikter snarare än att avvisa dem, vilket främjar en djupare reflektion och förståelse. Studien belyser även hur begreppet cancelkultur påverkar elevernas villighet att delta i diskussioner om kontroversiella frågor, med en rädsla för sociala konsekvenser vid uttryck av impopulära åsikter.

Controversial questions have the potential to awaken strong feelings for students and are common in the civics education. Despite this, research shows that students are not presented with sufficient opportunities to encounter controversial questions. The present study, through semi-structured interviews, examines ten upper secondary school students regarding their experiences with controversial questions. This study aims to contribute knowledge surrounding the experiences of upper secondary school students regarding controversial questions in the civics subject and civics education. The results of this study indicate that topics such as war and gang crime in the civics subject are perceived as controversially loaded based on the students’ classroom situation, as well as the background, opinions, and experiences that the students possess. Furthermore, the results show that some students perceive that they are given certain opportunities to discuss controversial questions, which refutes previous research. At the same time, to a larger extent, the results signify potential limitations regarding students' opportunities to discuss controversial questions in civics education. This is expressed through the students who imply that controversial questions are not presented in certain cases due to the teacher’s approach, the student’s willingness to dare to discuss, but also through the teaching methods that are used. Additionally, multiple students express that their opportunities for sharing opinions regarding controversial questions should be overseen. This is connected to the study’s theoretical framework, the associative agonism by pointing to the necessity of exchanging opinions between students in an open and democratic environment of discourse.

Denna studie syftar till att bidra till en fördjupad förståelse kring samhällskunskapselevers syn på läromedel och syn på kunskap kopplat till olika läromedel. För att nå syftet ställdes frågeställningarna “Vad kännetecknar elevernas syn på, val och användning av läromedel i deras samhällskunskapsstudier?” och “Hur kan vi förstå sambandet mellan elevers val av läromedel och deras lärande med betoning på första och andra ordningens kunskaper?”. För att besvara dessa frågeställningar användes en kvalitativ metod där semistrukturerade intervjuer genomförts med 10 elever i parintervjuer. Sedan har en tematisk analys genomförts där elevernas svar kodats och tematiseras. Resultatet har därefter analyserats med Sandahls (2011) första och andra ordningens kunskaper som teoretisk grund där första ordningens kunskaper  är faktakunskaper och begrepp medan andra ordningens är mer djupgående förståelse och förmågor, såsom slutledning, finna belägg och kritiskt tänkande. Studiens resultat visar att elever är delade i sina preferenser av läromedel, men att det finns några återkommande aspekter. Eleverna uttrycker att uppgiftens utformning är den viktigaste faktorn i deras val av läromedel då lärare ofta har valt ut vart de ska vända sig för att genomföra uppgiften. Vidare är språk en viktig aspekt då många elever upplever att läroböcker innehåller ett äldre språk och svårförstådda formuleringar vilket gör att de hellre vänder sig till sökmotorer. Detta trots att flera av eleverna uttrycker att de föredrar tryckta läromedel. Att elever vänder sig till videor och videotjänster så som Youtube för att hitta förklaringar till områden de inte riktigt förstår är även vanligt förekommande. Gällande första och andra ordningens kunskaper kopplat till läromedel uttrycker eleverna att första ordningens kunskaper, begrepp mm, lättast fångas av kortare sammanfattningar och hemsidor, såsom SO-rummet, Wikipedia och NE. Andra ordningens kunskaper, och djupare förståelse, upplever sig eleverna fångas bättre från böcker och avancerade texter. Samtidigt uttrycker de att källkritik och kritiskt tänkande mer är kopplat till deras användande av diverse digitala läromedel och internetbaserade källor. Eleverna uttrycker även en form av andra ordningens kunskap kopplat till att konkretisera första ordningens kunskaper då de menar sig kunna applicera sina kunskaper i vardagen. / This study aims to gain an understanding of the perspectives social science students' have on learning materials, such as textbooks, digital textbooks and internet sources, as well as their views on knowledge associated with different learning materials. In order to achieve this, the research questions asked are "What characterizes students' perspectives on, choices of, and their use of learning materials in their social science studies?" and "How can we understand the relationship between the  choices students' in their learning materials and their learning, with an emphasis on the concept of first and second-order knowledge?". To answer these questions, a qualitative method is employed, with semi-structured interviews conducted with 10 students in paired interviews. A thematic analysis is then conducted, coding and thematizing the students' responses. The results are subsequently analyzed using Sandahl's (2011) first and second-order concept of knowledge as a theoretical framework. First-order knowledge refers to factual knowledge and concepts, while second-order knowledge involves deeper understanding and abilities such as coming to conclusions, finding evidence, and critical thinking. This study finds that students are divided in their preferences of learning materials, but there are some recurring aspects. Students express that the tasks that their teachers assign them is the most significant factor in their choice of learning materials, as teachers often dictate where they should turn to complete the task. Furthermore, language is an important factor, as many students find textbooks to contain older language and difficult-to-understand formulations, leading them to prefer search engines instead. This is despite several students expressing a preference for printed textbooks. It is also common for students to turn to videos and video services like YouTube to find explanations for areas they don't fully understand. Regarding first and second-order knowledge associated with learning materials, students express that first-order knowledge, such as concepts, is most easily captured by shorter summaries and websites like SO-rummet, Wikipedia, and NE. They perceive that they gain deeper understanding and second-order knowledge from books and more advanced texts. At the same time, they express an understanding of source criticism and critical thinking more associated with their use of various digital textbooks and internet-based sources. Students also express a form of second-order knowledge associated with concretizing first-order knowledge, as they believe they can apply their knowledge to everyday life

This study explores the perceptions of civics teachers at the junior high level regarding the use of digital and analog teaching materials in their instruction. The study was conducted using a qualitative research method, where semi-structured interviews with five junior high civics teachers were carried out to investigate their perceptions of the use of digital and analog teaching materials. The selection of participants was targeted, with the intention to reflect a variety of experiences and perspectives within the teaching area in question. The interview guide was designed with support in previous research and theory, with the aim to deeply explore the teachers' experiences, strategies, and perceptions regarding the two types of teaching materials. By analyzing the recorded and transcribed interviews, recurring themes could be identified, which enabled a thematic analysis of the collected data material.The interviewed teachers experience that digital teaching materials offer accessibility, interactivity, and adaptability that benefits students' learning by providing material in various languages and enabling work at their own pace. However, challenges such as distractions and a tendency towards superficial learning also emerge. The use of analog teaching materials, such as printed textbooks, is described to promote deeper learning, focus, and student interaction, which contributes to a more lively and engaged learning environment.The study shows that the choice between types of teaching materials affects the teachers' roles and pedagogical strategies. Digital teaching materials often require more teacher effort to support students' use, which can reduce time for direct instruction. Analog teaching materials encourage more direct communication and discussion between teachers and students. In return, the digital teaching materials are often more content-rich than the analog ones.

The aim of this study is to examine (from a didactic perspective) how two social studies teachers who work in two different elementary schools, grade three, pursue their oral instructions with subject terms. We have selected these four following questions as main evaluation points throughout the study, basing our conclusion upon the information composed from the answers: Which of the five “conceptions of high order thinking” do the teachers value as the purpose for the teaching content? How do the teachers in their use of notions relate to the needs of second language students and how do they reflect on it? How do the teachers use subject-specific notions in their teachings practices? How are students given the opportunity to use, communicate and integrate around notions and how are the teachers reflecting on it? In this study we applied two types of qualitative methods. Six observations combined with interviews in the form of four short unstructured interviews and an in-depth interview with each teacher. Previous research shows that great linguistic skills are a common factor for success in all subjects. Our investigation has been made from a sociocultural theory that promotes learning through interaction with others as well as by receiving support from the teacher, through scaffolding. Our result indicates, in conclusion that the number of second language learners in the class has an impact on how actively the teachers work to concretize abstract notions. The student population determines how they in teaching practices use notions. Social issues also decided how the teachers gave students room to use notions. For teacher no. 2 who worked in an environment where the second language students were a majority, a second language perspective was an obvious matter, whereas teacher no. 1 considered it to be a management issue and a collective responsibility.